US Secretly Rushes Underwater Drones to Hormuz to Destroy Iranian Mines. 5 Aircraft Carriers to be Offshore Iran by August.

US Secretly Rushes Underwater Drones to Hormuz to Destroy Iranian Mines. 5 Aircraft Carriers to be Offshore Iran by August.

The U.S. Navy is sending the drones, known as the SeaFox, to destroy sea mines as part of an operation aimed at preventing any closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

WASHINGTON — The Navy is rushing tiny underwater drones to the Persian Gulf to help find and destroy sea mines as part of an American military buildup aimed at stopping Iran from closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the event of a crisis, U.S. officials said.

Only 88 pounds and 4 feet long, the unmanned, remotely guided submersibles carry a TV camera, homing sonar and an explosive charge for what amounts to a kamikaze mission: When it detects a mine, the undersea craft obliterates itself as well as the mine.

The Navy bought dozens of the little-known German-made devices, known as the SeaFox, in February after an urgent request by Marine Gen. James Mattis, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, for more minesweeping capabilities in the region, officials said.

The first drones began arriving in recent weeks as the latest round of negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear development program appears to have stalled.

One of the Navy’s oldest transport ships, now converted into one of its newest platforms for warfare, arrived in waters off Bahrain late last week, a major addition to the enlarged presence of American forces in the Persian Gulf designed as a counter to Iran.

The keel for the ship, the Ponce, was cast in 1966, and the vessel, nearing the end of its service, was to have been scrapped. But the Ponce was reborn as a floating forward base for staging important military operations across the region — the latest example of the new American way of war.

The first mission of the reborn Ponce was designed to be low profile and defensive, as an operations hub for mine clearing in the Strait of Hormuz, a counter to threats from Tehran to close the vital commercial waterway. In that role, the Ponce will be a launching pad for helicopters, a home to underwater diver teams and a seaborne service station providing fuel and maintenance for minesweeping ships.

But with the relatively simple addition of a modular barracks on the deck, the Ponce can also be a mobile base for several hundred Special Operations forces to carry out missions like hostage rescue, counterterrorism, reconnaissance, sabotage and direct strikes. Even with the addition of the barracks, there is ample room for helicopters and the small, fast boats favored by commandos.

The deployment of the submersibles has not been publicly disclosed, apparently to avoid alerting Iran.

The SeaFox is small enough to be deployed from helicopters and even small rubber boats, but it also can be dropped off the back of a minesweeper. It is controlled by a fiber optic cable and sends live video back to a camera operator.

It can be used against floating or drifting mines, which Iran has used in the past. It operates up to 300 meters deep, and moves at speeds of up to six knots. But the $100,000 weapon is on a what amounts to a suicide mission. The “built-in, large caliber shaped charge” it carries destroys the mine but also the vehicle itself.

Iran’s military is continuing to improve its missile capabilities by increasing their range and developing nuclear weapons related expertise, according to a Pentagon report to Congress.

“Iran continues to develop ballistic missiles that range regional adversaries, Israel, and Eastern Europe, including an extended range Shahab-3 and a 2,000-kilometer medium-range missile, the Ashura,” the report said.

In addition to “steady growth” in its missile and rocket arsenal, “Iran has boosted the lethality and effectiveness of existing programs by improving accuracy and developing new submunitions payloads,” the report said. Submunitions are warheads that carry different types of explosives or chemicals.

Echoing earlier intelligence assessments, the report said that Iran could have the technical expertise to flight-test an intercontinental ballistic missile by 2015.

The Navy is rushing dozens of unmanned underwater craft to the Persian Gulf to help detect and destroy mines in a major military buildup aimed at preventing Iran from closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the event of a crisis, U.S. officials said.

The USS John C. Stennis arrives in August, raising the number of American aircraft carriers in waters off Iran to four including the USS Enterprise and the USS Abraham Lincoln, with the French Charles de Gaulle due soon to make up a fifth.

The Eisenhower, which reached its new position in the first week of July, operates under the joint commands of the US Sixth (Mediterranean) and Fifth (Gulf) Fleets.

The USS John C. Stennis arrives in August, raising the number of American aircraft carriers in waters off Iran to four including the USS Enterprise and the USS Abraham Lincoln, with the French Charles de Gaulle due soon to make up a fifth.

The Eisenhower, which reached its new position in the first week of July, operates under the joint commands of the US Sixth (Mediterranean) and Fifth (Gulf) Fleets.

The USS John C. Stennis arrives in August, raising the number of American aircraft carriers in waters off Iran to four including the USS Enterprise and the USS Abraham Lincoln, with the French Charles de Gaulle due soon to make up a fifth.

The Eisenhower, which reached its new position in the first week of July, operates under the joint commands of the US Sixth (Mediterranean) and Fifth (Gulf) Fleets.

Pentagon is on the alert for Iran's newly-produced missiles as well as the country's submarines and vessels.

In the report released by Bloomberg on Wednesday, the Pentagon admitted that the "lethality and effectiveness" of Iran's missile systems has improved and Tehran would present a "formidable force" while defending its territory.

According to a June 29 report by the Pentagon, "Iran has boosted the lethality and effectiveness of existing systems by improving accuracy and developing new submunition payloads" that "extend the destructive power over a wider area than a solid warhead".

Seeing extra units moved to the Gulf is quite significant, the UK has 5 mine counter measures ships in the region and just changing over.. so by August they'll be a cross over of 7 Royal Navy mine counter measure ships in the Gulf.

August might be an interesting time, or it'll be another change of shift between the ships.. Royal Navy Mine hunters stay in the Gulf for 3 year periods, so this changeover is unusual.

bit of useless trivia, HMS Shoreham is heading for the gulf for her 3 year stint on patrol and should arrive at the beginning of August... but her predecessor, HMS Shoreham kicked off the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in August 1941..

Seeing extra units moved to the Gulf is quite significant, the UK has 5 mine counter measures ships in the region and just changing over.. so by August they'll be a cross over of 7 Royal Navy mine counter measure ships in the Gulf.

August might be an interesting time, or it'll be another change of shift between the ships.. Royal Navy Mine hunters stay in the Gulf for 3 year periods, so this changeover is unusual.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 19338188

thanks for this, I was looking for info

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.Sun Tzu

The U.S. Navy is sending the drones, known as the SeaFox, to destroy sea mines as part of an operation aimed at preventing any closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

WASHINGTON — The Navy is rushing tiny underwater drones to the Persian Gulf to help find and destroy sea mines as part of an American military buildup aimed at stopping Iran from closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the event of a crisis, U.S. officials said.

Only 88 pounds and 4 feet long, the unmanned, remotely guided submersibles carry a TV camera, homing sonar and an explosive charge for what amounts to a kamikaze mission: When it detects a mine, the undersea craft obliterates itself as well as the mine.

The Navy bought dozens of the little-known German-made devices, known as the SeaFox, in February after an urgent request by Marine Gen. James Mattis, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, for more minesweeping capabilities in the region, officials said.

The first drones began arriving in recent weeks as the latest round of negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear development program appears to have stalled.

The U.S. Navy is sending the drones, known as the SeaFox, to destroy sea mines as part of an operation aimed at preventing any closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

WASHINGTON — The Navy is rushing tiny underwater drones to the Persian Gulf to help find and destroy sea mines as part of an American military buildup aimed at stopping Iran from closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the event of a crisis, U.S. officials said.

Only 88 pounds and 4 feet long, the unmanned, remotely guided submersibles carry a TV camera, homing sonar and an explosive charge for what amounts to a kamikaze mission: When it detects a mine, the undersea craft obliterates itself as well as the mine.

The Navy bought dozens of the little-known German-made devices, known as the SeaFox, in February after an urgent request by Marine Gen. James Mattis, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, for more minesweeping capabilities in the region, officials said.

The first drones began arriving in recent weeks as the latest round of negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear development program appears to have stalled.